The Hunter and The Hunted
by guineamania
Summary: What if Jean Valjean decided to return to the barricade after he had left Marius with Cosette. He may have seen his archenemy stood on the side of the bridge. He may have realised they aren't so different. Here is what may have happened if he had gone on that walk. Valjean/Javert Request From - Lisle987!


_Request Fic__ - What if Jean Valjean decided to return to the barricade after he had left Marius with Cosette. He may have seen his archenemy stood on the side of the bridge. He may have realised they aren't so different. Here is what may have happened if he had gone on that walk. Valjean/Javert_

**This is a special fanfiction for a faithful reviewer of mine ****Lisle987****! This is my first time ever trying to write Valjean/Javert and so if I do it wrong please tell me! This was hard for me to write, I admit it! I do not ship Valjean/Javert in anyway and so this was a challenge … I write for challenge like this! So I hope it is some good …**_  
_

**The Hunter and The Hunted**

Valjean knew that there would be no one left. He knew they would all be dead. If he knew that then why did he find his feet carrying himself back to that dreadful place? Maybe it was just to make sure there was nothing he could do; to put his mind at rest. Maybe it was so he could tell Marius and Cosette that he had gone back to try and save the boy's friends. He didn't know but he was going anyway. The dark was silent as if in mourning of the lives lost for a brave new world; a world that would never see the light of day. A world about to dawn; he could still hear the boys singing in his mind. The night that ends at last; this night felt like it would never end. The darkness to plague Paris in memory of the valiant crusade that just ended in bloodshed. The silence was crushing as everyone hid from the national guard. The people. The people they fought for just hid while the brave revolutionaries fought for the people's benefit. They were rich young boys, they didn't need to fight. They did it because they cared. So much for a kind heart these days.

The River Seine raced under the prestigious stone bridge. Since he had come to Paris with Cosette, Jean Valjean had taken to standing here when he needed to think; on those dreadfully lonely and painful nights. It was something about the sound if rushing water that calmed his racing mind and made everything become clear. Today a soft fog swirled in the air and the cold nipped at his old bones. Today he wasn't alone at the bridge. A figure was walking solemnly along the side if the bridge ... Scarily close to the edge. He was about to call out when he heard the figure talk. Valjean froze. It was the voice that had haunted his life ever since that day in 1796 when he was arrested and escorted to prison. It was Javert, his permanently lingering shadow. "Who is this man, what sort of devil is he?" The voice asked to the air in part despair part anger. "To have me caught in a trap and choose the let me go free," he shouted and Valjean gawped. Javert was shouting about him. Then it came to him; he had never thought about how releasing Javert would affect the man. He had never considered that the reason Javert was still pursuing him was psychological not hatred.

"It was his hour at last to put a seal on my fate. Wipe of the past and wash me clean off the slate. All it would take was a flick of his knife ... Vengeance was his and he gave me back my life," Javert muttered returning to walking with only half his foot on the bridge. It sounded as if he could hardly believe someone would care if he lived or died. Valjean found his heart twisting at the inspector's words. Over these thirty eight years, he had grown strangely attached to his assailant. He did not know what these feelings were, but he felt something inside his chest upon hearing these words. Valjean still couldn't bear to move and disturb Javert's thoughts so he remained fixed in place. "Damned if I live in the debt of a thief, damned if I yield at the end of a chase!" The traumatised Inspector cried into the never ending darkness. "I am the law and the law is not mocked!" He hissed. In Jean Valjean's mind, the reasons behind Javert's behaviour were slowly coming clearer and instead of anger for the man, he felt understanding and an ounce of pity. "I'll spit his pity right back in his face," Javert spat venomously with a passion that made Valjean want to back away. "There is nothing on earth that we share ... It is either Valjean or Javert!" He shouted out to the stars he admired.

Valjean was stuck in place. He wanted to turn tail and run for the hills but the frantic beating if his heart held him transfixed on the traumatised inspector. His heart had never felt like this before; the only time anything like that had happened ... God no. They were enemies. The only time anything like that had happened was the brief spell with Fantine. He could not have feelings for Javert. He just couldn't! This man had wanted Valjean's head on a spike for the past nineteen years ... He just couldn't. He was so wrapped up in his inner turmoil that the fact Javert was either going to kill Valjean or himself, had flown over his head. "And my thoughts fly apart, can this man be believed," Javert whispered and Valjean felt the urge to dive forwards and exclaim that he could be believed and this hatred should end right now between them. "Shall his sins be forgiven? … Shall his crimes be reprieved?" Javert shouted as if he was practically on the verge of tears.

"And must I now begin to doubt, who never doubted all those years? My heart is stone, and still it trembles. The world I have known is lost in shadow. Is he from heaven or from hell? And does he know, that granting me my life today, this man has killed me even so," Javert yelled and these final words snapped Jean Valjean out of his emotional haze.

"Javert!" he cried stepping out of the shadows. The misty figure turned in pure shock.

"Valjean," he gasped standing on the side of the bridge.

"What are you doing up there?" Valjean asked as he tried to keep his voice steady despite a rise feeling of nerves storming up his gut.

"What are you doing down there?" Javert asked still in shock. Valjean chuckled awkwardly.

"For once in my life you don't want to see me," he murmured trying to make sense of this strange situation.

"I don't know what to think anymore," Javert murmured peering over the edge of the bridge.

"You can take me," he murmured and Javert turned to stare into his eyes. "Arrest me now, you've waited all these years," he exclaimed opening his arms. "Just end this pursuit now," Valjean sighed waiting for what he presumed was the inevitable conclusion to their story.

Javert just shook his head. "I, I can't. The man of mercy comes again!" he shouted at Valjean.

"It is who I am Javert!" Valjean shouted in despair.

"I just don't know anymore," Javert exclaimed. "The law is corrupt, perverted. My life is wrong!" he cried out into the sky.

"Then change, learn to trust, learn companionship," Valjean murmured stepping closer, he felt partially responsible for the inspector's mental state. And the feelings returned again. He brushed them to the back of his mind and focused on the task at hand; he had to talk Javert away from the edge.

"Why?" Javert asked.

"Because you deserve better than this; you are loyal, dedicated, passionate," Valjean smiled and Javert sunk to the floor and sat with his legs swinging over the edge; his legs hanging over the abyss.

"I just can't live like this anymore," Javert whispered as Valjean slowly stepped towards him.  
"Then don't you can reinvent yourself. You are supposedly dead," he suggested and Javert looked up.  
"Why are you doing this?" He asked obviously confused out of his mind and Valjean smiled weakly.  
"Because I want to help. You have been part of my life for the best part of forty years and I feel this ... Connection," he admitted, hoping this confession would allow the inspector to trust him. Javert nodded solemnly.

"Is it bad that I feel the same," he asked quietly while looking down into the murky brown water. Valjean smiled weakly and sat next to him also swinging his legs over the abyss.

"Of course not," he murmured. "So what do you say about a new beginning for us?" he asked cautiously.

After a few seconds, Javert spoke up again. "I'd like that," he murmured and Valjean smiled.

"How about we forget everything that has ever happened between us?" he asked with a weak smile and Javert solemnly nodded.

"Bonjour monsieur, it is nice to meet you. My name is Jean Valjean," Valjean smiled offering his hand out. Javert took it and shook it.

"My name is Louis Javert, it is a pleasure to meet you," Javert said and Valjean glimpsed a brief rare smile from the ex-inspector.

"Is this your first time in Paris?" Valjean asked with a little wink.

"That it is," Javert replied and looked up to his previous arch-nemesis. Valjean spotted a hint of relief and peace in his troubled eyes; then felt his heart warm at the help he was giving the lost man. "_Stop it!"_ he told himself. This was just to stop the man hunting him … that was all.

"Then you shall stay with me Monsieur Javert," Valjean smiled and Javert's face lit up with pleasant shock.

"This feels … good," Javert murmured and Valjean agreed.

"It feels good to sit here watching the stars," he muttered.

"Out there, in their multitude … scare to be counted," Javert smiled and Valjean nodded, staring out into the peaceful night sky. They turned to face each other with a weak smile and the feelings fluttered in Valjean's heart again … and his heart took over the controls. He gently leant towards Javert and kissed him softly on the lips. He continued despite the stiff shock in Javert's posture. His mind was roaring; screaming _"what the hell are you doing Jean?"_ but he refused to listen. The inspector softened against his touch and surprisingly pressed back smiling silently.

And so they sat there, kissing in the Paris moonlight … they call it the city of love for a reason.

**A/N**** – It is now official … I cannot write Javert to save my life! Anyway I hope this wasn't too bad and any feedback would be greatly appricated! **


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